Aug. 19, 2005 -- The Sulphur Springs City Council has
given tentative approval to a number of funding increases for the public
library in the coming fiscal year.

Library employees would benefit from one planned increase that calls
for a 2.5 percent cost of living raise for all city employees, but the
budget allocates other funds for more materials for the Sulphur Springs
Public Library.

The line-item increase for books at the library, while not one of the
largest increases, is significant. An additional $4,700 that is slated
to be pumped into the purchase of new books and materials will enable
the library to meet standards established by the Texas Library Association.

After having been below the standards for some time, the funding allocation
will bring the amount designated for materials to just above the recommended
10 percent of the total budgeted for library operations.

The planned budget calls for $329,306 for the library for 2005-2006,
up from $313,709 in the current year, and includes $35,000 for new and
replacement book, video, compact disc and digital video disc resources.

Library Director Kitty St. Claire said the additional funds will also
enable the library to continue to meet the increased demands of its users.

The demands of library patrons can be somewhat overwhelming.

On a monthly basis, St. Claire said, more than 13,000 transactions
are logged at the library and more than 1,000 patrons utilize the public
computers in the library for research and Internet access.

One issue brought to city council members by the library concerned
the number of library materials that are checked out but never returned,
something St. Claire called “theft.”

“I have been working on this for years trying to do something
about the theft, because it is extraordinary,” she said. “I
am always treading water ... the collection cannot grow because of the
theft and maintenance.”

City staff members are exploring several ways to get patrons to return
books to the library. An automated system is already in place that will
make several telephone calls to remind those with overdue library materials
that the items need to be returned.

Another effort involves new users who are limited to only one book
or item the first few times the items are checked out, a process not
unlike establishing a credit history with the library.

The library director said the limits imposed on new or first-time users
were implemented after it was found that a larger number of the thefts
were attributed to new patrons.

The discussions have also included the police department, because failure
to return library items can be considered a criminal offense.

In many cities, ordinances specifically address the theft of library
books and enforcement action is possible.

“Other cities use their police department and use a letter saying
it is a criminal offense when it reaches a certain amount,” St.
Claire said. “We have what we term ‘seriously over-due’ that
we have never been able to capture.”

Those seriously over-due library accounts may soon be turned over to
the police department in an effort to get delinquent library patrons
to return books and other borrowed materials.

“Hopefully that will take up some of the slack of many of the
other things I have put into the procedure to try to capture those [overdue]
books,” St. Claire said.

Older Archives

Looking for News-Telegram Sports and News Archives for January
2004 - November 2008